Don't Mind the Arrow

Change of Pace

I haven't talked much about photography on this blog recently, for a variety of reasons. My main interest has been acquiring and using film cameras. It's my primary motivation for going to estate sales. Yesterday we went to one that was amazing as far as cameras go. They had a serious collection, including a large-format camera for use with glass plates. I am interested in those as a concept, but I can't imagine actually using one, and my goal at the moment is to get cameras I will actually use. (Not that I could have afforded it anyway....)

I was torn between two cameras, both pseudo-TLRs. One was a Jem Jr. box camera. It looked pretty cool, kinda art deco-y and a little bit like a face on the front, but it was very square and somewhat bulky, so I had to go with my other choice, which was more carrying-friendly: a Kodak Duaflex II.

This morning, I took it apart and cleaned the glass and mirrors. I never would have guessed that I would be someone who would be willing to unscrew parts and open these things up.

As you can see, this one is pretty simple inside but still - I've never been much for disassembling things and trying to figure out how they work. It's totally worth it though. This one is now shiny and looks nearly brand new. 

I am excited to put some film into it and to start taking photos. But meanwhile, I realized something else about the choice I made that I hadn't even considered - this is the type of camera that people use for through-the-viewfinder (or TTV) pictures, so I've done a couple of those. If you don't know what that is, it's when you focus another camera on the viewfinder of one of these and take the photo that way. Here are the ones I took today:

Fun! Can't wait to see what it does with film.

Photo of the Week Sep. 16-Sep. 22

Photo of the Week Sep. 9-Sep. 15

Photo of the Week Sep. 2-Sep. 8

Photo of the Week Aug. 26-Sep. 1

Phases

I tend to go through a lot of phases with what I'm doing in terms of art. I get inspired to try a certain technique or style, and then I do mostly that for a while, and then I move on to the next thing. I think that those forays build a library of techniques to use in various projects in the future. But either way, the techniques ebb and flow. For a while, the technique of choice was grayscale drawings with Copic markers.

I was thinking of doing some of these small drawings with an eye toward using them for postcards. That idea is still floating around, although I haven't done any more with that intent yet. I based this on a photograph I'd taken of a hot dog vendor. This is the original photo:

I did some mail art and some other drawings with that style as well. I'll post some of those soon.

Sunday Image - Minimalism

Sunday Image - Swans

Garden of the Gods

Early last week, Morgan and the kids and I went down near Colorado Springs to visit Garden of the Gods Park. We had a great time, in spite of it being very, very hot. Giant rocks tend to reflect sunlight and heat, which added to the problem. But we were all troopers and toughed it out (three large bottles of water helped considerably).

We found a good spot for Jacob to climb and the rest of us to sit for a while, and I got out my sketchbook. Drawing rock formations is interesting - there's not much to grab onto visually. Crags and shadows can look like just so many squiggly lines. I did my best, though, and then came home and added colored pencil to it.

From Sketchbook

 

Sunday Image - Lion